For some RANDOM reason I’ve been obsessed with caesar salad for the past year. This is random because I used to HATE caesar salad. I think I honestly just hated the idea of it, since a lot of caesar dressing contains dairy and anchovies (*gags*). It turns out I just needed to find an anchovy-free dressing and give caesar another chance.
My current favorite caesar dressing is from Trader Joe’s – it’s new and happens to be vegan! It’s so easy to make a delicious salad with this dressing, romaine, parmesan, and chickpea “croutons” (recipe below). I’ve been eating it non-stop for lunch!
Chickpea Caesar Salad
Makes 1 large salad, plus enough chickpeas for 1-2 more salads
Chickpea Croutons
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed (1 ½ cups)
1 Tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Drain & wash a can of chickpeas, then pour them onto a hand towel & dry them.
Add chickpeas to a medium-sized bowl with oil, salt, garlic powder, & paprika. Add more paprika if you want more of a “kick.” Mix until all chickpeas are coated.
Pour chickpeas onto a baking sheet topped with parchment paper. Roast for 15 minutes, take out & toss, then roast for 15 more minutes.
Let them cool for like 20 minutes before eating them. Trust me, they’re so much better & crunchier when they are cool!
Salad Assembly
1 head romaine
2-3 Tablespoons Trader Joe’s Caesar salad dressing
2-3 Tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chickpea croutons
Wash & chop a small head of romaine lettuce, then put it in a big bowl.
Pour in caesar dressing & parmesan. Toss it around with tongs until all the romaine is coated.
Serve into a big bowl. Add a large handful of chickpea croutons on top. Enjoy!
So, food science. You want to be a professional chef… right? Wrong!
A nutritionist? Good try, but nope!
Food Science & Technology. According to the Institute of Food Technologists, food science is the physical, chemical, and microbial study of food and how it is made (IFT, 2021). Food scientists aren’t chefs, but they make the food/ beverage products and packaging that you find in grocery stores. Food scientists make sure food is safe, nutritious, delicious, economical, and sustainable (IFT, 2021). There are many different aspects of food science, and food scientists can do all sorts of jobs. The main pillars of food science are safety/ quality assurance, sensory, and product development.
Food safety is making sure food is safe – consumers (i.e., you) won’t get food poisoning or worse. Quality assurance is making sure food is good – the product meets expectations and consumers enjoy eating it. Quality assurance is a preventative system set up to promote high quality food and prevent defects, while quality control is actually identifying and correcting defects in what has already been made (ASQ, 2021). Regulatory/ compliance is a subset of these; It’s ensuring products and their labels are meeting legal specifications (Dolan, 2019). People who work in food safety/ quality assurance evaluate food materials (physically & microbially), statistically analyze data to ensure and improve quality/ safety and adhere to standards like GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices). And yes, I looked at LinkedIn Quality Assurance jobs to get those examples.
Sensory science involves food and consumer interaction. This pillar includes the evaluation of food products by consumers (such as taste testing). Sensory testing helps with product development and quality assurance. Do people like the product? Does it taste (and smell, feel, etc.) like it should? Sensory scientists set up and help run various consumer tests, analyze data, and make product recommendations (Civille, 2005). I think sensory science is fascinating!
Product development is the creation of new food products or line extensions (Fuller, 2011). Simply put, product developers figure out then make products consumers desire. I personally think this is the most fun and creative part of food science, and it’s the job I want to have eventually.
Those are the main parts of food science. However, there are so many more food science jobs. A few examples are food engineering (making/ improving food equipment & the production process in general) and food packaging (making the packaging food comes in).
I went to Michigan State University, where I majored in Food Science and double minored in Horticulture and Beverage Science. There were four different food science concentrations you could take at my school: Technology, Business and Industry, Packaging, and Basic Science (Michigan State University Office of the Registrar, 2021). I did the Technology major so I could complete both my minors. I’ll link more about my undergraduate program HERE! A decent number of large universities offer food science degrees (check out THIS list).
I truly enjoyed my time at Michigan State, both in and outside of class. I took a bunch of general science classes as well as specific Food Science classes. Some classes I took:
Fruit & Vegetable Processing, Dairy Foods Processing
Quality Assurance
Sensory Analysis & Consumer Research
Product Development (our capstone class that most people take the last semester of senior year, as it uses knowledge from all previous classes)
Fermented Beverages, Distilled Beverages, Winemaking (for my minor in Beverage Science)
French fries we made in Fruit & Vegetable Lab.
Food Science is such a fun major because you get to a) learn about FOOD, and b) MAKE food in labs! My favorite classes were my food processing classes, Sensory Analysis, and Product Development. We literally got to make mozzarella cheese, chocolate milk, and ice cream in Dairy Processing. We got to make grape juice, pickles, ketchup, and french fries in Fruit & Vegetable Processing. We got to design and carry out a sensory test for Sensory Analysis. Finally, we got to develop and showcase our very own food product for Product Development. Plus, our classes were right next to the MSU Dairy Store (RIP).
I’ll go into further detail of food science subsets in upcoming posts. Hopefully this post helped you learn more about food science and what food scientists do!
Peanut Butter & Ellie 